Editing Bestiary (section)

==History==
The bestiary — the medieval book of beasts — was among the most popular illuminated texts in northern Europe during the Middle Ages (about 500–1500). [[Christianity in the Middle Ages|Medieval Christians]] understood every element of the world as a manifestation of God, and bestiaries largely focused on each animal's religious meaning. Much of what is in the bestiary came from the ancient Greeks and their philosophers.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=James |first1=Montague Rhodes |title=The Bestiary |journal=History |date=1931 |volume=16 |issue=61 |pages=1–11 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-229X.1931.tb00001.x |jstor=24400559 }}</ref> The earliest bestiary in the form in which it was later popularized was an anonymous 2nd-century [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] volume called the ''[[Physiologus]]'', which itself summarized ancient knowledge and wisdom about animals in the writings of [[Classical antiquity|classical]] authors such as [[Aristotle]]'s ''[[History of Animals|Historia Animalium]]'' and various works by [[Herodotus]], [[Pliny the Elder]], [[Gaius Julius Solinus|Solinus]], [[Claudius Aelianus|Aelian]] and other naturalists.

Following the ''Physiologus'', Saint [[Isidore of Seville]] (Book XII of the ''[[Etymologiae]]'') and [[Saint Ambrose]] expanded the religious message with reference to passages from the [[Bible]] and the [[Septuagint]]. They and other authors freely expanded or modified pre-existing models, constantly refining the moral content without interest in or access to much more detail regarding the factual content. Nevertheless, the often fanciful accounts of these beasts were widely read and generally believed to be true. A few observations found in bestiaries, such as the [[Bird migration|migration]] of birds, were discounted by the [[Natural philosophy|natural philosophers]] of later centuries, only to be rediscovered in the modern scientific era.

Medieval bestiaries are remarkably similar in sequence of the animals of which they treat. Bestiaries were particularly popular in [[England]] and [[France]] around the 12th century and were mainly compilations of earlier texts. The [[Aberdeen Bestiary]] is one of the best known of over 50 manuscript bestiaries surviving today.

Much influence comes from the Renaissance era and the general Middle Ages, as well as modern times. The Renaissance has been said to have started around the 14th century in Italy.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Renaissance {{!}} Boundless World History |url=https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/the-renaissance/ |access-date=2022-05-03 |website=courses.lumenlearning.com}}</ref> Bestiaries influenced early [[heraldry]] in the Middle Ages, giving ideas for [[charge (heraldry)|charges]] and also for the artistic form. Bestiaries continue to give inspiration to coats of arms created in our time.<ref>{{cite book|editor-first=Stephen|editor-last=Friar|title=A New Dictionary of Heraldry|location=London|year=1987|publisher=[[A & C Black|Alphabooks/A&C Black]]|isbn=0-906670-44-6|page=342}}</ref>

Two illuminated [[Psalter]]s, the [[Queen Mary Psalter]] ([[British Library]] Ms. Royal 2B, vii) and the [[Isabella Psalter]] (State Library, [[Munich]]), contain full Bestiary cycles. The bestiary in the Queen Mary Psalter is found in the "marginal" decorations that occupy about the bottom quarter of the page, and are unusually extensive and coherent in this work. In fact the bestiary has been expanded beyond the source in the Norman bestiary of Guillaume le Clerc to ninety animals. Some are placed in the text to make correspondences with the [[psalm]] they are illustrating.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stanton |first1=Anne Rudloff |title=The Queen Mary Psalter: A Study of Affect and Audience |date=2001 |publisher=American Philosophical Society |isbn=978-0-87169-916-9 |page=44ff }}</ref>

Many decide to make their own bestiary with their own observations including knowledge from previous ones. These observations can be made in text form, as well as illustrated out.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cohen |first1=Simona |title=Animal Imagery in Renaissance Art |journal=Renaissance Quarterly |date=2014 |volume=67 |issue=1 |pages=164–180 |doi=10.1086/676155 |s2cid=191615584 }}</ref> The Italian artist [[Leonardo da Vinci]] also made his own bestiary.<ref>{{cite journal| title=Selections from the Bestiary of Leonardo da Vinci | first1=Oliver |last1=Evans |journal=The Journal of American Folklore |volume=64 |number=254 |date=Oct–Dec 1951 |pages=393–396 | doi=10.2307/537007 |jstor=537007 }}</ref>

A ''volucrary'' is a similar collection of the symbols of birds that is sometimes found in conjunction with bestiaries. The most widely known volucrary in the Renaissance was [[Johannes de Cuba]]'s ''Gart der Gesundheit''<ref>{{cite book|last1=de Cuba|first1=Jean|title=Garden Of Health|date=1501|publisher=Verard Antoine (Paris)|url=http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b2100150b|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161115014243/http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b2100150b|archive-date=2016-11-15|language=fr|format=758 scanned pages with black & white illustrations|access-date=2014-09-15|url-status=live}}</ref> which describes 122 birds and which was printed in 1485.<ref>''Hortus sanitatis deutsch.'' Mainz (Peter Schöffer) 1485; Neudrucke München 1924 and 1966.</ref>